Barcelona is expected to elect 43 councillors in the 2027 municipal elections, up from the current 41, after its population has stayed above the 1.7 million threshold set by electoral law.
Under Spain’s General Electoral Regime Law, known as LOREG, a municipality gets 43 councillors when its population exceeds 1,700,000 inhabitants. Barcelona had 43 councillors from the first democratic local elections until 1995, when the number fell to 41 after Pasqual Maragall won that year’s vote.
City data show Barcelona has remained above 1.7 million residents in every monthly record since September 2023. The latest available figure, from December 2025, put the city’s population at 1,740,682.
The official count used to तयermine council size does not come from the city council, but from Spain’s National Statistics Institute, the INE. For the 2027 elections, the key figure will be the January 2026 data, which is expected to be consolidated later in 2026 and approved by the Council of Ministers.
Municipal sources cited by Betevé say the population trend is clear, but they will not make an official statement until the INE figures are published. The confirmation is expected in November or December 2026.
There is also a gap between population growth and the electoral roll. Barcelona has more residents who cannot vote in municipal elections, including foreign citizens from countries without reciprocity agreements with Spain. That helps explain why the city has lost a quarter of its voters since the 1979 elections. For more Catalonia-wide local reporting, see our news page.
